In Jacques-Louis David's 1812 painting Napoleon in His Study, the forty-three-year-old, slightly portly Napoleon wore a Colonel of Chasseurs uniform. His right hand was tucked into his coat as usual, while his left held a solid gold seal. It was clear that both sides of this seal were pure gold, and it was obviously not the one stolen from President Pierre.
The seal in Napoleon's hand in the painting was the official seal of the First French Empire. It was currently safely kept in the Napoleon Foundation's exhibition hall. The other side of the seal bore the symbol of a crown, while the stolen seal was utterly ordinary, without so much as a single relief or carving on it.
Marie Louise also had an identical seal. Given that she had once served as Regent Queen, those two seals might have belonged to the Emperor and Empress.
Clearly, the thief who had slipped into Pierre's home had a discerning eye. The police in France were inefficient—after all, they earned only 1,800 euros a month, while France's legal minimum income was 2,200 euros. Being a civil servant was a thankless job, and the suicide rate among police officers in France had always been the highest of any profession. Under such circumstances, it was impossible to expect them to protect citizens' lives and property, so many wealthy people in France hired professional security companies.
The intruder had not triggered the alarm or the cameras. If the security company failed to discover how it had happened, they would lose their credibility and no one would hire them again. The CEO of that security company had come to the gathering with Pierre, and they were tightly surrounded by members of the Foundation. Severus had no chance to approach them, so he could only stand alone